


Hostage

by QueenPlatypus



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Anxiety, Bank Robbery, Blood and Injury, Doctors & Physicians, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hostage Situations, Police, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27653230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenPlatypus/pseuds/QueenPlatypus
Summary: When Hailey hasn't gotten back from her lunch break, Ethan instantly knows something is wrong.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 19





	Hostage

The three doctors were in the Diagnostics team office, discussing a new case they just received an hour ago. While Ethan was scribbling on the board the ideas his two colleagues shared, Baz and Hailey kept debating together for a moment.

When an agreement was reached, Baz headed out to the patient’s room to start running some tests. At the same time, Hailey stretched, moaning slightly before this new comfort. Ethan left the board to go sit behind his desk, to immediately start working on his computer.

“Say… Can I borrow your car, for a moment?” She asked.

“My car? What for?”

“I just have an errand to run at my bank. Since it’s not exactly next door and that I don’t want to wait until tomorrow… I figured it would go faster by just going right now while I’m on break and using a car to help.”

“How long would you be gone?”

“I’d say… Not more than 45 minutes, tops.”

He looked up to her for a moment, slightly losing himself in her eyes as he always did whenever he ended up looking at them. He smiled slightly before opening one of his drawers, taking his keys out and handing them to the grinning resident.

“Before you go… Have in mind that I remember exactly how I left it. If…”

“Don’t you trust my driving skills?”

One of his brows shot up.

“I promise, there won’t even be a single scratch. If I have time, I might even go to the car wash!”

“You don’t have to.”

“Oh, I know.”

While taking the keys, she leans to give him a quick peck before he has the time to protest. Giggling, she heads out, knowing he might still be shaking his head with the tiniest smile possible as she settles in the driver’s seat.

***

The last past hours had been crazy, to say the least. Ethan had been busy making rounds with his own patients, correcting a mistake an intern made and read some newly released medical journals. So when Baz came back to the diagnostics team office to tell him the test results were ready, he barely heard him. Even so, he still paged the junior fellow of the team to let her know.

_Paging Dr. Fisherman to Room 435._

“Hailey will meet us there, come on, no time to waste, can I see those results?”

“Of course, Ethan, here.”

Ethan quickly scanned the sheet, nodding upon seeing that they had, once again, solved the case. It didn’t take them long before they reached the room. Still, because they were a team, the two doctors decided to wait for their colleague outside to share the results with her and make the announcement to the patient.

But then… Five minutes had passed. Then ten. Then twenty. Ethan groaned. _Where the hell was she?_

“Maybe she’s busy with something else. Come on, let’s tell Karen what she has, we will fill Hailey on it later.”

Ethan sighed, but still agreed, following Baz inside of the room as he presented to the patient everything she had to know about her newly-diagnosed condition.

After that, Ethan checked the time: 2h43. The last time he had seen her, it was lunch time. Frowning, he stopped a few members of the staff, asking them if they had, by any chance, seen Dr. Fisherman. Every time, the answer was the same: no.

Suddenly anxious, he returned to his desk and took out his pager again. Not a single change. So, he tried something else.

_Paging Dr. Fisherman to Dr. Ramsey’s office._

He waited. And waited. But once again, she wasn’t coming. This time, he took out his phone to text her.

_Where are you?_

Deciding not to wait for an answer, he headed downstairs, to the nurses’ post.

“Hi, Marlene. Just wondering… has Dr. Fisherman come back from her break?”

“Let me check… Fisherman… Fisherman… Oh my, no. It’s been quite a while now, has it?”

He sighed.

“Thank you, Marlene.”

He headed back, now knowing that something was wrong. Hailey would never simply leave like this to not come back. She would never just… vanish without a trace. She would have checked in at least once.

Hailey was _missing._

The first thing he did was go to the ER, to check if there was some new admissions, maybe a car crash or something like it. But no, there was nothing like it. Thinking about checking the admissions of the other hospitals nearby, he took the elevator to go back to his office with the intent to check the news on his computer.

Before he was able to do so, he saw Dr. Sienna Trinh running, her phone in hand and instantly stopping with eyes wide opened upon seeing him.

“Dr. Ramsey!”

“Dr. Trinh? Is there…”

Without a word, she pushed her phone into his hands, looking at him with tears in her eyes. Frowning, he turned the phone so he could see the screen and, upon seeing the content. It was a livestream from Hailey’s Pictagram account, made almost two hours ago. As he was able to see, it lasted for no longer than a minute, but it was sufficient to understand what was going on.

_I just have an errand to run at my bank._

Unwillingly, he dropped the phone.

There was a hostage taking at her bank.

***

As she parked the car down the street from where her bank was, Hailey checked the time on the radio: 12h25. She smiled, silently thanking Ethan for landing her his car and allowing her to get here in less than ten minutes. Turning off the engine, she grabbed her purse and readied the papers she’ll have to present.

She walked inside of the bank and got in line, taking out her phone to lose some time on Pictagram while she waited patiently for her turn. While scrolling down, she liked a selfie Keiki, Bryce’s sister, posted with the friends she was making at her new school, tagged her roommates in some memes and wished a happy birthday to one of her college friends.

But then, she heard them. Three shotguns. Like anyone else, her first reflex was to lower herself to the ground, covering her head with one arm as she looked for the source of the noise. It didn’t take her long to see the three men all dressed in black and wearing masks that covered all of their heads. Each one of them had a weapon in their hands.

“Everyone, listen up! This is a hold-up! We don’t want to hurt _anyone._ Just let us do our thing and you’ll all be safe and sound!”

Hailey looked down to her screen, still opened up on Pictagram. With a slide of her thumb, she was able to stream live, filming one of the bandits locking the doors while the other two knocked out the security guards and pressured the employees and the awaiting clients to get in the middle. With this Hailey had to stop the stream, or else she’d be caught and would be in more danger.

“Throw your phones away, in this direction! No tricks or you’ll regret it!”

“Like hell we… AGH!”

One of the assailants fired, making his arm bleed. More people started to scream, cry and hug each other. Hailey remained stoic, trying not to let her fear get to her.

“Darryl! You shot him! You bastards, you…”

“You want to be next, bitch?”

The woman gulped, but shook her head as she let the tears fall off her cheeks.

“You’ll all be fine if you do as we say! Don’t make us hurt you! Throw your phones away and stay put! If we found out word of this has gotten out, we…”

“Enough! Let’s tie them up and get this over with!”

Immediately, the robbers got out some tie wraps, tying them tightly around the hostages’ wrists. Hailey could now barely feel her hands anymore, but she pushed the thought away as she glanced to the wounded man. His face was paler, his long-sleeved shirt quickly getting stained with blood as he breathed hardly, his partner trying to comfort him the best she could even though she was more than clearly freaking out.

The bank’s alarm started to ring, making everyone scream in surprise. The robbers panicked, starting to search for a way to make it stop before finally setting on shooting every mural device possible. Hailey used the occasion to move, getting nearer to the bleeding man, but one of the robbers saw her, walking to her fast and pressing his foot on her calf, making her yelp.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing, blondie?”

“I’m a doctor. I just want to check him. Along with the guards you knocked out if that’s possible.” She explained calmly.

“Liar, you’re trying to…”

“Listen up, _dude._ You might be robbing this bank, but we all know how it’s going to end if this guy dies because of you. Let me treat him before it gets worse. Please.”

The three robbers shared a look, then nodded and cut off her tie wrap, she massaged her wrists.

“Fine. Do your thing. But no dirty tricks!”

Hailey sighed, but proceeded with the check up. She looked up to the robber watching them.

“We need to stop the bleeding.”

“Well… Do it. Make it stop.”

“I can’t. I don’t have the appropriate material with…”

“Does it look like my problem?”

“It will be your problem very soon if I don’t get a first-aid kit at least, this I can promise you.”

The robber groaned, but turned to the bankers.

“Is there anything like it here?”

“Yes, in the break room.”

“Which is?”

“In the basement.”

“DAMMIT!”

Oh well, that was surely going to last a while…

***

Upon learning what had been going on, Ethan and Sienna ended up their shifts. Sienna informed their roommates while Ethan went to speak with Naveen directly to explain what was happening. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he lended his own car keys to Ethan, telling him to be careful. With them in hand, he joined Sienna by the entrance who was waiting alongside Aurora, an anxious look in their eyes.

“I’ve texted the others, they’re on their way to the bank.”

“There’s a police barricade that we won’t be able to cross, but we can try getting as close as we can. Besides, we’ll be able to assist if there are any injured. They won’t say no to a team of doctors.” He said, starting to walk.

“Wait, Dr. Ramsey…”

He stopped, looking at the two residents who looked at him with… concern?

“You know you don’t have to put on a brave face in front of us, right? We know how much she means to you.” Said Aurora.

“And I know how much she means to the both of you, to all of her friends actually. That’s no excuse, as much as I am worried by the situation.”

“She… She’s going to be alright, is she?” Asked Sienna, a tremor in her voice.

“Have you met the girl? You could put her in front of a bear and it would get scared. She’ll be more than alright.”

Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at this intervention from Aurora. He guided the two residents to Naveen’s car before sitting behind the wheel. In a matter of minutes, they reached the police barricade: they had closed all the neighborhood. Ethan lowered the window, calling over one officer.

“Sorry sir, no one is allowed to come closer. There is a…”

“We know what it is. My girlfriend is stuck in the bank.”

“That’s unfortunate, but…”

“We’re here to help. We are doctors from Bloom Edenbrook hospital.”

“Okay… Huh… Find someplace to park… I need to talk with my superior first.”

Ethan nodded and rolled away, finding a free parking spot a few blocks down. On their way, they encountered Bryce, Jackie, Elijah followed by Rafael and Kyra. They met in the middle, walking up to the policeman currently talking with his superior. Upon seeing them, the chief nodded.

“I suppose you are the said doctors?”

“We are.”

They all presented their hospital badges, except of course Kyra and Rafael that stood back. Upon quickly checking them, he nodded.

“Alright. This seems legit. But still, we can’t let you come inside of the lines because we still need to do our job. The tactic team and the FBI are on the field and we need to let them work without putting other citizens in danger.”

“Is there something we can do though?” Asked Bryce.

“Indeed. You can wait here… And assist the paramedics if it’s needed.”

“We understand, thank you.”

The policeman nodded and headed back to the barricade, leaving the doctors and the two other friends by themselves.

“So… Who wants coffee?”

***

The only way Hailey had been able to figure out how much time had passed since all of this started was with the ticking clock on the wall.

When she was able to stop the bleeding of Darryl’s arm, the three robbers agreed it would be better to move all of the hostages in a more secluded place. Right now, they were all seated on the floor, all their backs on the walls of the break room. Their belongings were still in the main room.

“What’s taking the police so long? We’ve been here for hours! I’m hungry!”

“I’m sure they’re working on it, Brenda…”

“But what if they’re not? What if they are abandoning us?”

“Mommy? Did the police abandon us? Are we going to die?” Asked a little 5-year-old boy named Sammy.

“No, sweetie. Everything is going to be fine, don’t listen to the old lady.”

“Old lady? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“And who the hell do you think you are scaring my kid like that? Do you really need to…”

“Ladies, please, let’s all calm…”

“You are _not_ telling me to calm down right now!”

“Enough!” Said Hailey.

Stomping her foot to attract their attention, she speaks.

“I know this situation is stressful for all of us. You didn’t expect your day to go on like this at all and neither did I… But being negative and losing our cool around each other will not help us. We’re not the bad guys here, remember?”

“Doc’s right. The best we can do is wait and… maybe talk to one another.” Said the guy who introduced himself as Grant.

“Sure, _genius_. What can we even talk about?” Asked Robert.

“How about… Our plans after we get out of here. Does anybody want to start?”

Nobody spoke up, so Hailey sighed.

“When I get out of here… I’ll go hug all of my friends and treat them all to dinner just to make them know how much I love them. I haven’t lived in Boston for long, but… They really made me able to call this place my home.”

“Are you single, doc?” Asked Janet.

Hailey smiled.

“I’m not.”

A few of the younger people groaned, which managed to make her chuckle before she continued.

“My boyfriend is also a doctor… It’s how we met, actually.”

“Tell us! Is he hot?” Asked Felicia.

“Very. But that’s not what made me fall for him. The first impression he gave me actually was one of a stuck-up and entitled jerk. But, the more I knew him… The more I realized he could actually be sweet, supportive and passionate.”

“He is lucky to have you. You’re so kind, doc!”

“Aw, thank you, Sammy. I can’t wait to see him again…”

Hailey closed her eyes, sighing. Surely, by now, he probably knew something had happened. She wondered about where he was, what he was doing. He probably was worried but wouldn’t show it, trying to keep on a brave face. The thought made her smile. The first thing she would do upon seeing him was kiss him until she forgets the rest of the world is still there.

“Can I do it, now, mom?”

“Sure, Sammy. Go ahead. What are your plans after we get out of here?”

“Eat the biggest bowl of ice cream EVER!”

This managed to make everyone laugh. Unfortunately, this time of respite was short-lived as the door opened on two of the robbers.

“Get up, we’re moving.”

***

The sun was just starting to set. Ethan and Hailey’s friends were now sitting together on the sidewalk, twiddling their thumbs as they saw more and more people moving inside and outside of the lines. Jackie groaned.

“Gosh, what’s taking them so long? It’s almost six, for crying out loud!”

“They’re probably doing all they can, Jackie. The priority is keeping the hostages safe before anything else. They can’t do anything that would expose them to more danger.” Explained Rafael.

“I know, but still… It’s been almost six hours since it started. Surely they’d have made some progress, right?”

Ethan didn’t want to think about it any longer. Getting up, he excused himself before mumbling something about ‘taking a walk’. For the first few streets, he walked at a fast pace before slowing down to a stop to lean against the wall. There, he slid one hand across his face and took out his phone. He stared at the blank screen for a while before deciding to unlock it, accessing his gallery. He didn’t have the habit of taking pictures, so the only ones he had were the ones Hailey had sent him.

He went through them, somehow finding a little comfort in seeing her smiling face, be it being with a fake-pouting selfie, a smiling one, pictures of the two of them she insisted to take…

And then, he saw it. The picture the two of them took at the photobooth at Edenbrook’s charity party that Kyra put up, a few months ago. They were standing side by side, her in this devilishly sinful red dress and him with his tux. The setting was something he wasn’t used to since he tried his best to avoid them at all cost, but this night, with her at his side… Everything felt good. _She_ felt good.

Touching the screen with his thumb, he slides it on her cheek, watching the twinkle in her green eyes.

“I’ll see you soon, love.”

***

“What do you mean, ‘we’re moving’? Where are we even going?”

“Just… Just get up, okay? Get up or we shoot you all!”

Not wanting to provoke them, the group of hostages got up, not without difficulty. Following the instructions, they got up on the roof one by one.

“Why are we going here? What’s going on?”

“Shut up!”

Hailey concentrated, trying to understand what the robbers were saying. She managed to pick up on some words: ‘we’re screwed’, ‘they’re surrounding us’, ‘shut the _fuck_ up, Clint’. Okay, they were desperate. But still… Why were they bringing them on the roof?

“Make a line in front of the border, NOW!”

“Why? What are you…”

“DO AS WE SAY!”

They aimed at them and reluctantly, everyone got into position. Hailey looked down and saw the vans of the FBI right in front, the agents gesturing towards a guy with a megaphone. They seemed to look up, seeing the hostages.

“Please, surrender. This is your last chance to comply!”

“Come on, guys. We only talked about robbing, not…”

“For the last time, shut the fuck up! We all agreed to this and we knew the risk!”

“I’ve never agreed to kill people! I am not doing it…”

“Yes, you _are._ You don’t have a choice.”

“I… I never wanted this…”

“Clint?”

They turned their heads towards Hailey.

“How did you…”

“It doesn’t matter. I want you to listen to me. You can still turn this around.”

“No he can’t! He’s as deep as…”

“Clint. Whatever you’re going through right now outside of here… It can get better.”

“Don’t listen to…”

“How? This is the end. Whatever happens, I’ll end up in jail with a criminal record or dead. I don’t see how it can get better… I just… I want it to stop.”

“And with your help, it can happen. You need to be willing to put in the work, but things can be better, life can be better. Please, consider it. Make the right choice.”

“I…”

He hesitated and, in that moment, the robber in charge snarled and used the back of his weapon to hit him behind the head, making him collapse instantly.

“No!”

“Idiot.”

He looked back to the hostages.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Hailey gasped and the others braced. As the thieves rose their weapons, Hailey couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes shut, her heart beating so loud it could get out of her chest any instant. Her life flashed before her eyes. Her childhood, high school years, heading to college, med school, then Edenbrook. Meeting her friends, meeting Ethan.

A tear dropped and rolled down her cheek. Was this really it? Was she really going to die like this? Before she was able to…

Her thoughts stopped short upon hearing the noise of a helicopter. She peeked and saw one black flying towards them before stopping right in front of them. Instantly, tactic agents jumped down, guns aimed at the two robbers that had no choice but lay their guns down, get on their knees and raise their hands above their heads.

When they were taken downstairs into custody, the police officers rushed through, untying everyone and giving them food, water and taking in their depositions.

Hailey was finally able to get back her stuff and checked her phone, noticing many _many_ notifications of worried people. But for now, she didn’t have the energy to deal with it. Settling it back into her purse, she waited for the officers to discharge her before heading out of the barricade, sighing heavily.

“Hailey!”

Confused, she rose up her head to see her friends and Ethan running to her. The attending was the one who got to her first and wrapped her into a hug that she returned immediately. Upon feeling his embrace, she finally cracked, sobbing and hugging him even tighter.

“It’s okay, love, I’m here. I’m _here._ And you’re fine. I got you now.”

***

After catching up quickly with all of her friends, Ethan invited her to his apartment for the night, thinking she could use privacy. Of course, she accepted and, a few minutes later, they were both inside Naveen’s car, driving back to his home. She asked about his own car, but he reassured her, saying it could wait.

When they got in, Ethan poured her a bubble bath and let her have some privacy while he made her favorite dish for dinner. When he was done, he went to see her, knocking on the door.

“Hails? May I come in?”

“Sure.”

He opened the door before stepping inside the bathroom. She was still in the bathtub, her body covered by the foam and her blonde hair tied up into a bun. She smiled slightly at him as he approached her.

“I just talked with Naveen. He hopes you’re well and he says to not bother about coming back to work yet, take all the time you need.”

She nodded.

“Thank him for me.”

Concern written all over his face, he cupped her cheek, sliding his thumb across her soft skin and thinking about the fact that if today had been different… he might have never been able to do such a thing again. But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he pushed it away, quickly thinking about how selfish it was.

Still, she was able to see it.

“What is it?”

“I should be the one asking you, not the opposite.”

“Ethan… This day has been hard on everyone.”

“Of course. But still… You were right there. You were more exposed than any of us and…”

“And… what?”

He sighed.

“It felt like the maitotoxin situation all over again. I… I was so scared of losing you. But unlike last time, I had not the slightest control over the situation and… I couldn’t bear it.”

She stayed silent for a few moments before speaking up again.

“I have a bad habit of getting in awful situations, haven’t I?”

He huffed, rolling his eyes.

“But… More seriously… I was scared too. So much. And what helped me hold on was, well, you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah… I had this tiny voice in my head asking me ‘what would Ramsey do?’ and also… just thinking about you and the fact of returning to you… This sort of thing.” She said, looking up at him.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, not letting go as their heads got closer. Softly, he pressed his lips on hers, moving them softly, aware of her reactions, of her needs. Currently, he didn’t even care if his shirt was getting wet, all that mattered was her. She was still here. She was safe.

“I love you.” He whispers against her lips.

“I love you too.”

He leaned back, getting up.

“I’ll let you finish up. Dinner’s ready, by the way.”

“Duly noted. I’m soooo hungry I could eat an elephant!”

“Good thing I’m a good cook, then.”

“Yes, good thing.”

He returned to the kitchen, only to be joined by her a few minutes later, wearing only one of his shirts and joggings that she left here. They sat together and enjoyed the meal in silence, with her thanking him for it.

Not long after that, they were both so tired they decided to go to bed early. Since she was on her side, he asked her if she was okay with him spooning her, waiting for her to agree before doing it. As he laid his hands on her stomach, he pressed his lips to the back of her head, hearing her let out a satisfied sigh.

“You know… Today, there was a little boy among us. His name is Samuel, but we all called him Sammy. Not older than five.”

“Gosh, that’s awful.”

“Yeah… But he handled himself like a champion. I’d actually like to believe he was even braver than I was.” She said, chuckling.

She paused to cover his hands with hers before continuing.

“When we were leaving… He told me he wanted to be a doctor just like me. He wanted to be a hero.”

“Hmm… If he had not been talking about you, I would’ve disagreed. But… He’s totally right.”

“Flatterer. You’re not even curious as to why he saw me as a hero?”

“No need. You’ve been able to prove yourself again and again. So I’m sure he had his reasons. And since he was able to acknowledge it… I can tell he’s very smart.”

She sighed.

“He is.”

She snuggled closer to him, breathing slowly.

“Good night, Ethan.”

“Good night, Hailey.”

And he closed his eyes, keeping her close to him, safe in his embrace. Silently, he promised to never let her get herself in risky situations again.


End file.
